Cement

Rheology of Cement

We develop superplasticizers for ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and calcium aluminate cement (CAC). Poly(carboxylate ether)-based superplasticizers (PCEs) are used to modify the viscosity, slump flow, and slump retention of cement mixtures. From the first touch of water, CAC loses its flowability in less than 1 hour and commercially available superplasticizers are developed to cater the needs of OPC-based systems. The superplasticizer that we have developed for CAC is the first of its kind in the literature that addresses higher charge, surface development, and fast kinetics of this specialty cement (EP 3056476 A1).

Below, are the pictures of CAC systems with an incompatible superplasticizer (top) and with the superplasticizer that we designed (SU-PCE, below). An addition of 0.4 wt% SU-PCE is enough to preserve the flowability of CAC in longer time periods.